Convulsion
by CastleWriter16
Summary: A 5 am body-drop hits too close to home for Alexis. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone! You know the drill...I don't own _Castle. _ If I did, do you really think that I would allow them to go this many episodes without having a decent conversation? Exactly.  
**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Morning Dad."

"Hey, Pumpkin. Will you be okay if I don't go with you this morning? Gina wants three chapters by the end of the week."

"Yeah, that's fine. Lanie's picking me up anyways. The crime scene is only a few blocks away," Alexis explains, finishing off her bagel.

"Well have fun. Tell Beckett I'm sorry I couldn't come," Rick says, heading back towards his study.

Alexis quickly downs a glass of orange juice before throwing everything in the sink and running upstairs.

She grabs her keys and wallet off of the dresser and stuffs them in her purse, puts on some make-up so it doesn't look like she's a zombie. She's running on _maybe_ four hours of sleep - couldn't get her brain to shut off.

Her phone dings and she's unsurprised to see a text from Lanie.

**Be there in 5. Want anything from Starbucks?**

She smiles and texts back, "Coffee - Kate's norm plz :)"

**No problem ;)**

Alexis puts her phone in her purse and shuts off her bedroom lights before heading downstairs.

She nods to the doorman, Eddie, as she passes through the lobby. Lanie pulls around the corner just as she steps outside. She climbs into the passenger seat and Lanie hands her a steaming to-go cup. "Grande-skim latte, two pumps sugar-free vanilla."

"Thanks."

There's an accident on the next street over and they sit for twenty minutes or so without moving at all. By the time they get to the crime scene, CSU's already there, photographing and documenting everything.

* * *

Kate pulls up to the crime scene all smiles. A good morning text from Castle and the promise of a coffee by the end of the day - it makes up for the 5 am body-drop.

"Hi Alexis," she greets, meeting up with her at the police tape.

"Morning. Dad says he's sorry about not coming." Kate smiles at that. Leave it to Castle to make his daughter apologize for what he did.

"It's okay. He told me I'd get coffee before the end of the day. Is he having trouble writing? Writer's block?"

"No. He's just been procrastinating. It's Wednesday and Gina wants _three_ chapters by Saturday."

"How long did she give him?"

"Probably a few weeks," Alexis smirks. "Like I said, _procrastinator_."

"Good morning, Kate," Lanie says, jogging up behind them.

"Hey Lanie. Where's the body?"

"Around back. I see you've rubbed off on Alexis."

"Huh?"

"I ordered your usual from Starbucks this morning," Alexis supplies.

"I didn't even think you liked coffee. I would've pegged you for more of a chai tea type of girl."

Alexis shrugs. "Depends on my mood." Kate nods - she can relate. A lot of what she does depends on her mood too. Her hair for example. When she's upset or in a bad mood, her hair's up. When she's feeling confident and more like herself, she lets it tumble down in waves. Today it's down.

They get to the end of the alley and round the corner. She hears Alexis' breath hitch, can tell she's stopped walking. She spins on her heel to see Alexis running.

* * *

She has no idea where she's going, just that she can't be here. Anywhere but here. Tears stream down her cheeks faster than she can wipe them away. She's vaguely aware of fast footsteps behind her - probably Kate, or Lanie, or both.

She doesn't care. It only makes her run faster.

This isn't - she can't -

It's not possible.

She avoids the alley with CSU, runs past it and hooks a left, sprints down the alley parallel to it.

Someone catches her by the arm. She tries to pull away, but their grip only tightens. Yup, definitely Kate. Lanie would just let her continue to run.

Kate tugs on her arm, spins her around. "Alexis, what's going on?"

"P-Paige," she stutters. "That's Paige." Her knees seem unable to hold her up anymore and she sinks down against the wall, curls up in a ball, doesn't care that Kate's standing there completely shocked.

Her chest feels tight - everything's distorted. She feels dizzy, despite being up against the wall. She can't stop shaking, can't take anything but short, shallow breaths.

Kate crouches down next to her. "Alexis," she says gently, "deep breaths. In and out."

She lifts her head from her knees, looks at Kate. "C-can't."

"I know. Just try." Kate pries Alexis' hands from around her knees, squeezes them. "In and out."

She only manages another short breath, nothing close to actual breathing. An all-too vivid image of Paige dances across her mind - bruised face, cut-up arms, blood-covered chest and abdomen. It's too much for her to process, to believe.

"Alexis?"

She can't look at Kate anymore. She's embarrassed, ashamed really, that she couldn't maintain her composure, stay professional. She shouldn't have run. That was stupid. She probably just lost her internship with Lanie. Great.

"Alexis, breathe." She's trying.

It's not working.

Her whole body wracks with sobs, the shaking becomes more than she thought was possible. Her chest feels tighter with every breath she tries to take.

Paige. Paige is gone. Nothing's going to bring her back. They were supposed to go to lunch on Saturday, catch up, maybe get their nails done.

It registers after a while that Kate's holding her, running her fingers through her hair. She's singing something softly, some kind of lullaby she doesn't recognize. It brings her a strange kind of comfort and peace.

Her breathing slowly steadies and she's not shaking quite so much. Tears still fall freely down her cheeks, soaking the sleeve of Kate's shirt.

"Shhh. It's okay, Alexis. It's going to be okay."

"I'm s-sorry," she hiccups.

"Don't be sorry," Kate says softly. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, Alexis."

She's known Kate four years and the only personal conversation they've really ever had is that time she asked for advice about doing the foreign-exchange program at her school. She really doesn't know Kate as well as one might think and yet being with Kate makes her feel safe, secure.

Kate's tracing lazy circles on her back now, and her body starts to relax again. "There you go, Lex. Just relax."

The tears finally stop, and she's left emotionally exhausted.

* * *

Writing. He's actually writing. He doesn't know where the sudden burst of inspiration came from (there haven't been any interesting cases as of late and he and Kate haven't gone to Remy's in quite a while).

Nikki Heat is interrogating a suspect. She's on fire, just about to get a confession when his phone rings.

It scares him a little bit - it's been so quiet. He sees Beckett's smiling face on the screen and picks it up, confused.

"Hey."

"Hi." He can hear the worry in her voice, the unbridled concern in her tone.

"Everything okay?" There's a pause, a much too long, pause before she answers.

"Castle, you need to come get Alexis."

"Kate-"

"_Now_, Castle. You need to come get her _now_. I'll explain later. I gotta go." The line goes dead after that and he bolts up from his chair, rushes to put on his shoes.

He's out the door in mere seconds, takes the stairs because an elevator ride would seem like eternity.

On his way to the crime scene, he gets stuck in traffic that sets him back a good ten minutes. The whole time his mind plays games with him, feeds him endless worse-case scenarios. He finally decides that sending Kate _one_ text isn't going to kill anybody.

She doesn't respond and he's still not moving so he calls Lanie, and it goes to voicemail almost immediately. Her phone's off, then. Crap.

He finally makes his way through the cloud of traffic and can't help but speed up. Something's wrong with his little girl and not knowing is killing him.

When he pulls up to the crime scene, all he sees is CSU. The "morgue-mobile" is nowhere in sight. So the body's gone. And Alexis has been gone what, an hour? Hour and a half? The body's never gone that fast. Ever.

He hops out of his car and a CSU guy comes up to him, says that Beckett asked him to bring him to her. He follows along wordlessly, past the alley and into another one. His heart melts at the sight.

Kate's on the ground holding Alexis; Lanie's sitting next to them, rubbing Alexis' back.

Lanie sees him first, gets up and walks over. "Is she okay? What happened?"

She hesitates a moment before answering, averts his gaze. "Paige is dead. Alexis had a panic attack."

"She saw Paige's body?" Lanie nods, glances back over at Kate and Alexis.

"GSW to the chest, cut up arms, bruised face."

"But she's okay? She didn't hurt herself or-"

"She's okay, Castle. Don't make a big deal out of it; it'll just make it worse."

He nods, walks over to Alexis and Kate, Lanie in tow. He kneels down next to the pair and puts his hand on his daughter's back. "Hey Lex."

She pulls away from Kate, and looks at him, a mixture of relief and confusion crossing her face. "Dad."

"Hey baby girl." She buries her face in his shoulder, fists the sleeve of his shirt.

"She's gone."

"I know, baby, I know," he says, running his hands up and down her back. "Let's go home." She nods and he stands up, pulls Alexis with him. He holds a hand out to Kate and pulls her up as well.

"I'll call you later," she whispers. He smiles in thanks and walks back to his car with Alexis.

The drive home is eerily quiet. Alexis' gaze is fixed out the window, unmoving as they sit in traffic. He pulls into the parking garage and looks over to find Alexis asleep.

He walks around to her side of the car and eases the door open, unbuckles her seat belt, and gathers her up in his arms.

"Dad," she murmurs.

"Go back to sleep, honey."

He carries her through the lobby, doesn't miss the look that Eddie gives him as he hits the button for the elevator. Alexis stirs, mumbles something incoherent that he can't make sense of.

Thankfully no one else is on the elevator and they ride up in silence. When they get to the top floor, he walks out and his mother comes out the door. "Richard, what happened?"

"Shh. She's asleep. Can you get the door please?"

"Of course." She fumbles with unlocking the door and pushes it open, ushering him inside.

"Where were you off to?" he asks, carrying Alexis upstairs.

"Oh, I was just going to go out to an early breakfast with some friends and then go shopping, but I can call and cancel."

"No, she's asleep and there's no reason for you to hang around here," he says, walking into her bedroom.

"What happened?"

"She went to a crime scene and the victim was Paige. Lanie said Alexis had a panic attack."

"Oh my. That must've been horrible."

Martha peels back the covers and he gently sets Alexis down on the bed and tucks her in. He kisses her forehead before he leaves.

"Go ahead. I'll call you when she wakes up."

"You're sure?" He nods and watches her walk out of the loft. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and presses '2' on his speed dial.

"Hey, Castle. How's Alexis?"

"Sleeping. You have time to come over?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

* * *

**Thoughts? Reviews are very much appreciated!**

**:) CastleWriter16**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello again!**

**Anyone else almost die from all the previews and promos for the finale? **

**Thank you for all the wonderful reviews last chapter! :D**

* * *

She lets her fingers tangle with his as he hands her the steaming purple mug. "Thanks." He smiles - that silly half-grin that presents itself when he's unsure about something. "You okay?"

He takes a long sip of his coffee before he looks at her again. "Yeah. Fine."

She nods, takes an indulging sip of her own coffee. "You're such a liar," she says, playfully shoving his thigh. "Come on; what are you thinking about?"

"How long?"

"What?"

"How long did her panic attack last?" Oh. Oh, right. The panic attack that Alexis had. Duh, Kate.

"Twenty minutes. That's normal. Symptoms usually peak around ten minutes and last twenty to thirty minutes. An hour tops." Her fingers trail up his arm, squeeze his elbow. "Lanie gave her some anxiety meds. They're not prescription or anything and she said-"

"Kate, slow down. It's okay. I trust your judgment. I know you wouldn't give Alexis anything that would hurt her." She nods, allows him to lace his fingers through hers.

"Thank you. For what you did today."

"Always."

He smiles at her, squeezes her hand. "What's wrong?"

She shrugs, leans back against the couch. She knows he's not going to let her go that easily. He pushes, sometimes too much, but that's good for her. It gets her to open up to him, say the things that need to be said.

Today's no different. "Kate. Hey, look at me. What's wrong?" he asks again, tugging on her hand, forcing her to look at him.

"I just - I don't want this to be something that defines her. I don't want it to destroy her." She regrets the words the moment they leave her mouth.

That sounds, what? Maternal. Like Alexis is her daughter and she wants to protect her. Where is all this coming from? She'd held Alexis in the alley, stroked her hair and sang to her just like her mother used to.

Maybe this case, this death, is reminding her of her mother's death, of her unsolved murder. Reminding her of the endless hours of therapy she'd gone through, of the panic attacks she'd had, of the life she'd had to save.

It's not the same. Her loss is different from Alexis' loss. Her pain is different, her struggle is different. Alexis is not her. Paige is not her mother. And Alexis is certainly not Kate's daughter.

So what the heck is she thinking? This entirely too - too what? Surreal? No, that's not the right word. She doesn't know what it is.

And, the fact that Castle's not saying anything? It really doesn't help.

It makes her feel insecure, unsure. She doesn't like it.

She cares about Alexis, yes, but maybe what she did crossed a line?

She sighs in annoyance, entirely too frustrated to think straight. Castle finally breaks the silence.

"I think what you did helped. I know that you don't spend a lot of time with her, but I think that she looks up to you, trusts you. I think you being there for her, just made it…"

"Easier." He nods.

"I wasn't there, but she had you." _Has me._ She wants so badly to correct him, but she just nods, takes another sip of her coffee.

* * *

She wakes up startled and disoriented and scared.

She's under a layer of blankets, but she's freezing.

The back of her eyes burn as tears build up, stay welled in her eyes until she blinks and they roll down her face.

She snatches her phone off of her nightstand, hits '4' on her speed dial.

_Hey! You've reached Paige. Sorry I missed your call. Leave a message!_

She throws her phone onto the bed and falls back, pulls the blankets over her face. She doesn't know why she called Paige. She knew she wouldn't get an answer. She saw the body, saw Paige's lifeless eyes staring up at the sky.

She's gone.

But there's a small part of her that refuses to believe that, a part of her that wants to wake up from a nightmare that doesn't exist.

The nightmare is reality. Reality is a nightmare.

She numbly forces herself out of bed and stumbles down the stairs, completely oblivious to everything around her.

The lights in the kitchen are too bright, blinding her into a haze of dizziness and tears and heartache. Someone calls her name and she falls into open arms, hit with the familiar smell of her father's cologne. She buries her head in his shoulder, lets her arms hang limp at her sides.

He kisses the top of her head and hugs her tighter before pulling away and taking her hand. He leads her over to the couch and she stops walking at the sight of Kate on the couch.

She didn't expect her to be here. But then-

She'd come off as clingy, hadn't she? She hadn't exactly tried to get away from Kate. She broke down in tears and Kate was there to hold her, reassure her.

So maybe it's not all that surprising.

It shouldn't be anyway. Kate has a hard, tough-love kind of exterior, but the few times she's been to the loft when she was there, the few times they'd spent time together, she'd become much more than her father's partner.

Kate has this presence that Alexis doesn't think Kate herself is even aware of. Maybe it's just the fact that she's cop, maybe it's just who she is, but no matter the reason, Alexis finds that having Kate around her makes her feel safe.

And it makes her feel okay to let her father fall in love. She's different.

Kate's not one to break hearts and leave a man in ruins, saunter away as if nothing happened.

She cares. She cares more than Gina and her mother ever did, ever will.

Kate tugs at her elbow, pulls her down onto the couch. She sinks into the leather, closes her eyes and tries to stop crying.

Someone brushes her tears away with their thumb. The touch is too light to be her father's. Kate then. She leans into the touch, rests her head on Kate's shoulder.

Kate wraps an arm around her, strokes Alexis' hair with her free hand. The silence speaks louder than Kate ever could.

_I've lost too. I know. I understand._

She doesn't know how long they sit like that - seconds, minutes, hours. Time doesn't exist for her at the moment.

Somewhere along the line, she hears the door open and close, followed by muffled voices. Kate's still silent; if anything she pulls her closer, holds her tighter.

The couch sinks next to her and someone puts a hand on her shoulder, whispers her name. Her breathing stills, pulse races.

Lanie.

She wants to run, curl up in a ball in her room. She wants to pull the covers back over her head and use them to shield herself from the world, from the reality that plagues her every thought.

Her best friend is dead.

* * *

"Alexis, you need to eat something."

"Dad, I'm not hungry."

"But-"

"But nothing. I don't wanna eat anything," she says, hopping off her chair. "I'm going to the gym." She walks out without another word, slamming the door behind her.

She runs down the hall, takes the elevator to the ground floor where the community gym is. She knows that there will be hardly anyone there. It's Wednesday morning; everyone's at work.

She wraps her hands and heads to the corner of the room where the punching bags are.

Each punch is harder than the previous one. Then the bag starts to move too much and she has to stop and steady it. A few more punches and the bag starts to move again.

"You need someone to steady your bag for you." She doesn't say anything, doesn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment, Kate included.

Kate walks around to the other side of the bag, holds it still. "Go ahead, Alexis."

She punches the bag even harder than before, obviously surprising Kate, if her face is anything to go on. The detective must not realize how hard she's fought for things, how hurting someone she loves just doesn't happen.

With every punch she becomes angrier with herself. The 'if only' scenarios run through her brain.

If only she'd been there, if only-

"Alexis?"

She sinks down against the bag, tears blurring her vision. "I should have been there. I was so busy with Lanie and I-I-" She stops herself from saying anything else and recomposes herself as much as she can before standing back up. "You changed," she says suddenly, turning to face Kate.

"Yeah; it's easier to keep up."

"Could we - could we go for a run? Central Park?" Kate nods and tugs on Alexis's wrist, pulls her closer. She reaches up and wipes under Alexis' eye with her thumb.

"Your mascara was smeared," she explains.

"Thanks."

They ride the elevator up to the lobby in silence and walk out the back entrance of the building, avoiding Eddie.

"Kate, can I ask you something?" Kate nods, nudges her in the direction of the park.

"Sure."

"In the alley…was that - was that normal? I mean…I just…never mind. Forget that." She walks ahead of Kate, puts a noticeable amount of space between them.

That was stupid. Her and Kate, they don't have that kind of relationship. She can't just ask her whatever she wants.

She can't be that personal with her.

That question forces her to delve into her shooting. She knows that. It's just well, maybe she trusts Kate? Maybe she wants to understand?

But after last summer, how does that make any sense?

"Alexis." Kate brings her out of her reverie, grabs her arm and pulls her back. "I think there's something I need to show you. Come with me?"

"Yeah. Sure." Kate lets go of her arm and hails a cab, rattling off an address to the driver as they climb in.

The drive is done in comfortable silence. She looks out the window and continues to take deep breaths, wards off any further panic attacks.

When the car stops, Kate pays the driver and gets out, motioning for her to do the same.

She wordlessly follows Kate into a big office building, down a few corridors until they stop in front of-

Oh. This is - it's not what she expected.

* * *

Martha bows out from breakfast and shopping early, catches a cab home. It really was pointless. She couldn't stop thinking about Alexis, her maternal instinct kicking into high-gear.

The ride through the city seems to take forever and she passes endless offices and apartment buildings. Why did they decide to shop so far away?

The driver pulls up to the curb in front of her building and she pays him, makes sure she gives him a nice tip before rushing inside.

"Whoa, slow down, Mrs. Rodgers," Eddie laughs, reaching for her bags. "Let me help you with those."

She waves him off, forces a smile. "That's okay, Eddie. I've got it."

"You sure?"

"Yes, positive. Just a few bags today." She desperately hopes he can't hear the annoyance that is creeping into her tone.

"Alright, if you're sure. You have a nice day." She forces another smile, ducks her head and walks to the elevator.

She lets her bags drop off her wrists and onto the floor as she rides up, leans back against the wall.

The ding of the elevator brings her out of her thoughts and she gathers up everything and steps off, quickly walks to the end of the hallway, already fumbling around in her purse looking for her keys.

The door swings open before she can unlock it and her son stands in the doorway, looking tired and lonely. "Hey."

"Richard, whatever is the matter?"

"I don't know how to fix it." Her eyebrows knit in confusion and he explains further. "I don't know anything about panic attacks. I don't know how to help her with this."

She doesn't know how to help either, if she's being honest.

"We'll all work through this together," she says, putting her bags down. "That's what families do." She pulls him into a hug, gives him a reassuring pat on the back.

"Is she still asleep?"

"She's with Kate," he sighs. "And I guess that's good; I know she understands. I know she knows what to do…"

"But you want to be the one who's there for her," she finishes for him. He nods, runs a hand through his hair.

"But I think it's good she feels safe with Kate. She never felt like she could talk to Gina, or her own _mother_ for that matter; she was afraid of getting hurt."

"I agree," she says, walking towards the couch. "I think spending some time with Kate will be good for her. Kate knows what Alexis is going through."

Richard nods, rubs the bridge of his nose. "Yeah. I'm going to call her, see where they are. She should probably be at the precinct. I don't want Gates to get mad."

"Okay," she says, watching as he pulls his phone out. She walks over to the kitchen, pours herself a glass of wine.

She sips it slowly, watches her son pace around the living room, the phone cradled against his ear.

"She's not picking up," he whines.

"Oh, they're fine. Kate's a cop."

"Right," he says on an exhale. "I'm gonna go get a shower."

"Good idea." And she goes back to her wine.

* * *

Alexis draws her knees up to her chest, sinks further into the leather chair. She looks up at Kate for reassurance, and Kate squeezes her shoulder in response.

"Yeah, I guess I do. Is that wrong?"

The man looks at her, leans forward on his knees. He pauses a moment before answering her. "It's normal. I'm sure Kate can tell you that." He looks up at Kate and then locks eyes with her again. "But it's not your fault; you couldn't have prevented your friend's death."

Alexis finds Doctor Burke's demeanor entirely too relaxed. Must be a therapist thing.

She sucks in a shaky breath and manages a nod.

"And, in my professional opinion, the panic attack was completely normal, given the circumstances. I don't think you'll have another one. However, people that suffer from PTSD have them frequently."

"Like me," Kate says, running a hand over Alexis' hair. "I used to have them all the time. Doctor Burke helped me with that, still does. And I have the support of my team and your dad."

"And me," Alexis whispers, leaning into Kate's side. Kate smiles at her and looks back towards Doctor Burke.

"Alexis," Burke says gently, "tell me more about what happened in the alley, what you were thinking and feeling."

"I…I saw her body. And-"

"Whose body?" Burke presses, forcing her to say her name.

"P-Paige's body." Burke nods, and so she continues. "And then I ran. Instinct I guess." That sounds stupid, now that she's saying it out loud.

"And then?"

"Kate ran after me." A ghost of a smile appears on Burke's lips. Apparently, that doesn't surprise him. In fact, it looks like he's a little bit amused.

"What happened after she caught up to you?"

"I freaked out, I guess." Doctor Burke looks up at Kate, a look in his eyes that Alexis can't really read.

"She was crying. She sank against the wall and started shaking; she had trouble breathing. Pretty much the majority of the symptoms I have during mine. Her panic attack lasted about twenty minutes, give or take," Kate says, tracing circles on Alexis' back.

It puts her at ease, having Kate do that. Just like the lullaby in the alley.

Knowing that Kate has panic attacks, that she's gone through this all before - it helps her feel much more normal, less mortified. She suspects that's why Kate's doing this, why she's letting her in.

"And after that?" Burke prompts.

"My dad came to get me and took me home. I guess I fell asleep in the car. Next thing I remember is waking up in bed."

"And how did you feel when you woke up?" the doctor asks.

"I don't know how to describe it," Alexis admits.

"Well what's the first thing you did?"

Uh. Yeah, she doesn't really want to admit that she called Paige's cell. That sounds, oh crap - like she's in denial. Five stages of grief. Wonderful.

"You called her, didn't you?" Kate asks softly, and somehow it sounds less stupid coming from Kate.

She nods, looks at the floor, avoiding Doctor Burke's eyes. She takes a deep breath and then cautiously looks up at Kate, who's perched on the arm of the chair.

"Could we take a break? Get a drink or something?" She feels like she's a kindergartner again, small and vulnerable. A little girl.

Kate glances over to Burke and nods. "Yeah, of course. I know this is probably a little over whelming."

"Take as much time as you need, Alexis," Doctor Burke says, still in his chair. Kate gets up and grabs her hand, guiding her out of the office.

Once they're in the hallway, Kate pulls her into a hug. "How about we get a glass of water?"

"Yeah," she says, twisting the ring on her finger.

"Lex, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. We can leave. I just thought that seeing this, seeing him, would..."

"Help. Yeah, it does a little bit. I feel like I'm seeing the real you, like I'm getting to know you better. I'm less mortified now."

"Alexis, I want you to listen to me. You don't need to be embarrassed. You lost your best friend." Kate's words have her fighting back tears again, struggling to maintain composure. She's not so sure she can avoid a second panic attack.

She runs a hand through her hair and follows Kate down a long hallway to a break room similar to the one at the 12th. Kate gets her a glass of water and tells her to sit down on the couch, relax. Breathe.

Kate pulls her phone out of her pocket and sighs. "Your dad called. I had my phone off. Do you want him to know that we're here?"

"Just tell him we're out, be back soon." Kate nods, smirks. Good choice then.

Kate's phone rings and she glances at the screen before picking it up. "Beckett...No, Espo. I thought we settled this. I'll be in later. Tell Gates it was a family emergency." Kate rolls her eyes and begins pacing the room. "Yeah…I'll talk to her, don't worry. I have to go. See you later." Kate ends the call and sighs. "Sorry about that."

"I don't want you to get in trouble. If you need to be at the pre-"

"No, it's okay. I've got it covered. You are much more important than my job, Alexis. I want you to know that I'm here for you, okay? I know that things have been a little rocky between us, but I'm here. I am. I promise."

Alexis gives Kate a teary smile, too many emotions washing over her. _Family_ emergency? That alone is more than she ever expected to hear from Kate Beckett. She hadn't pegged Kate as the type to say such things. As far as she's heard, Kate is just not that kind of person, not after her mom's death.

She stands up and hugs Kate. "Thanks."

"Always." Alexis doesn't fully understand the weight of the word, but she knows it means something.

It's much more than a promise.

* * *

**_Awww._ I'm sorry, someone had to say it. :)**

**Anyone catch the subtext between Alexis and Kate? ("You changed." "Yeah; it's easier to keep up.") Hmmm... Also, I referenced a couple of other episodes in this chapter, so kudos to the people that noticed it.**

**Okay, so now I'm going to ask you all to hit the review button and let me know what you think...**

**Enjoy the finale everyone! **

**:) CastleWriter16**


End file.
